Industrial production in Germany slid in December, official data showed Tuesday, clouding an otherwise bright picture painted by economic indicators in Europe's largest economy.

India's rupee will reverse recent gains and sink to a record low in the coming year on expectations for a rise in the dollar even though US President Donald Trump has made clear his dislike of a strong currency, a Reuters poll found.

BP returned to profit in 2016 as cost-cutting and lower charges linked to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill offset weaker crude prices, the British energy giant announced Tuesday.

"Things don't have to change the world to be important," Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs said in an interview in 1996.

Finnish network equipment maker Nokia reported its quarterly profits fell less than expected, helped by cost cuts and the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, and said the tough global market was starting to stabilize.

World food prices rose to a near two-year high in January and look set to be higher and more volatile in 2017, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.

India is to halve the basic rate of income tax to 5 percent, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced on Wednesday in his annual budget.

India is considering new measures to seize the assets of "big time offenders" who flee abroad, the finance minister said Wednesday, after tycoon Vijay Mallya left for Britain last year owing over $1 billion.

India plans to form a giant national oil company by combining other state-owned firms, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday, as New Delhi wants to expand its foreign presence to meet growing domestic fuel demand.

India stuck to a previously planned injection of $1.5 billion for state-owned banks in the coming financial year, disappointing hopes for a broader recapitalisation and fuelling concern that some may trim lending to keep afloat.

India's finance minister pledged to raise spending on the rural poor and halved the basic rate of income tax in his annual budget Wednesday, seeking to ease the pain of a shock move to ban high-value banknotes.

German car parts maker Bosch said Wednesday it will pay out some $327.5 million (303 million euros) in compensation to US buyers and dealers of Volkswagen-made diesel cars affected by the 'dieselgate' scandal.

South Africa's poultry industry says it is on the brink of collapse due to hotly-denied accusations that the European Union is dumping cheap chicken in the country in a dispute over free trade.

Apple Inc reclaimed the throne as the world's top smartphone seller for the first time in five years on Tuesday, beating out rival Samsung in units shipped for the holiday quarter and boosting revenues with a strong showing for its new, top-of-the-line iPhone 7 Plus.

Germany's center-left candidate for chancellor Martin Schulz has called for bigger pay rises for workers, an unusual move in a country where wages are traditionally negotiated by managers and union leaders without political interference.

The German industrial conglomerate Siemens said Tuesday that full-year earnings would surpass previous estimates, after reporting a 25 percent jump in quarterly net profit.

Japan on Wednesday denied Donald Trump's accusation Tokyo "played the money market" to give it an unfair trade advantage, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying the claims of currency devaluation were untrue.

India's 2017/18 annual budget is "fiscally prudent," as it maintains the government's fiscal consolidation efforts and would lead to stable economic growth if implemented correctly, a Moody's analyst said on Wednesday.

Indian shares rose 1.8 percent on Wednesday after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled a budget with a range of incentives for companies and geared towards boosting infrastructure and developing the rural economy.

Japan is hammering out plans to show US President Donald Trump its firms are ready to create US jobs, according to a document whose contents were revealed to Reuters, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares for a summit where automotive trade will be high on the agenda.